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RaRa’s Freezer Pickles. Or what to do with too many cukes.

We’ve been getting quite a few cucumbers from the garden… more than we can keep up with eating fresh. This afternoon, I finally had a chance to make a big batch of my Aunt Robin’s Freezer Pickles. She said it was okay to share the recipe… it’s easy, and they are YUMMY!

First you need to peel a pile of cucumbers! The peelings are headed for the Worm Bin… they’ll be happy!

And then slice them thinly. A food processor does the job just fine… I think my Black & Decker Shortcut is about twenty years old, and has made LOTS of freezer pickles in its lifetime! Matter of fact, I think Freezer Pickles are the reason I own it!

The recipe calls for 7 cups thinly sliced cukes, and 1 cup thinly sliced onions. (Sliced those the old fashioned way, with lots of crying involved.) I peeled and sliced en masse, as you can see. For each 8 cups of cukes & onions, sprinkle 2 Tbsp. Salt and mix well. Then let them sit for about two hours. After two hours, pour off the water that has accumulated, and rinse well. They’ll taste a bit salty, but most of the salt is being poured off with the water. The soaking helps make the pickles “burpless.”

Then, for each 8 cup batch mix together:

1 cup White Vinegar

2 cups Sugar
(They’re prettiest if you use White Sugar, not Raw Sugar!)

1 tsp. Celery Seed

Mix up the vinegar & sugar solution, and pour onto the cukes & onions. Stir well, making sure they’re all coated. Put them in the fridge overnight so they can absorb the “juice.” In the morning, pack the pickles in freezer containers or bags and freeze them. They’re best if you wait a couple of weeks to eat them. They’re sort of sweet & sour in flavor, and when you take them to church potlucks, someone will always find you and ask for the recipe!